Twenty-three years had passed since Vladimir Ilyich Lenin's death. Two scientists last week assured the ikon-loving Russians: "We are convinced that Lenin's body will remain in its present state for hundreds of years." Lenin's place in the Soviet hagiology, however, was not equally secure; he was becoming a mere peg on which to hang verbal votive offerings to Russian nationalism and to Stalin.
Comrade Pompadour. At last week's memorial ceremonies, a huge, floodlit portrait of Lenin looked down from the façade of Moscow's Bolshoi Theater. But when the official party arrived, the crowd's eyes turned from Lenin's benignly sly features to those...
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